Hydrodynamics

The study of water as a fluid, with its unique properties, and the study of hydrodynamics (fluid mechanics) and wave causation and motion is a most involved and complicated science. The actions and reactions of water and an object floating on that water cannot possibly be studied in depth here- but some simple rules must be understood. If your ship on the open sea approaches a mountain extending out of the ocean, only one of 2 things can happen. One, the ship will be carried around the mountain with the lateral water displacement. Or, two, the waves can be of such force and direction that they carry the ship right into the side of the mountain, with such force that the ship would break into pieces. But it would NOT come to rest on that steep mountain side. It just wouldn't happen. And if that mountain peak were directly under the ship and the waters slowly descended, the ship STILL wouldn't land on the mountain side (such as on Mt. Ararat). The water displacement and movement around the underwater mountain would still cause the ship to be removed from the mass (of the mountain) with the water.

The necessary criterea for a ship to land on a mountainside as sea waters descend would involve a process by which the water displacement would trap the ship within an area, such as an eddy could do. At least, that's what Ron believed and stil believes.

The Size of the Ark

One of Ron's favorite subjects of study was the ancient Egyptians as related to the Biblical account. While in Hawaii, he had read everything he could get his hands on in the library. And as he mulled all the information over in his mind, there was one thing that seemed to be obvious to him: He knew that Moses had been the author of the Genesis account and therefore the flood story- and as such, Ron believed that the cubit Moses would have known would have been the Royal Egyptian Cubit, the most universal standard of measurement in the ancient world at that time. There was no "Hebrew cubit" in existence during Moses' time, and to Ron, the 500 foot measurement given in the "Life" article was even more compelling evidence that the site needed thorough exploration. After all, 300 Royal Egyptian Cubits equals 515 feet, not the 450 feet commonly accepted (and based on the future Hebrew cubit).

1975- "The Ark File"

It had now been 15 years since he had read that article, but his interest never waned- it only grew. And then he read the book, "The Ark File" by Rene Noorbergen who just happened to be a member of that 1960 expedition to the boat-shaped formation. Until this time, Ron had no more information on the boat-shaped object other than what he had read in "Life" Magazine, but now he knew the names of the very men who visited it. So, he contacted all but one of the American members of the expedition and asked them everything they could tell him. When he told them he wanted to visit the site, they all basicly told him he was crazy to do so. They were all adamant that nothing was there- that is, all except one man, Dr. Arthur Brandenburger, who still believed it was a ship.

He asked them how to get to the site- after all, "20 miles south of Mt. Ararat" is a pretty vague location in a region that is all mountains. But, no one could tell him exactly how to get there because they had ridden on horseback for hours to the site, being led by the Turkish military.

1977- to Turkey!

In 1977, for the first time, Ron felt like his children were old enough for him to either leave them alone at home or take them with him to Turkey. For the first time, he had 2 weeks of vacation. And for the first time, he had enough money to go to Turkey. It was now 17 years since he first read about the site. So, he told the children what he was about to do and to his dismay, the boys, Danny who had just turned 17, and Ronny who would be 16 in 2 months, insisted on going, too.

Torn about whether to take them or not, he did the only thing he knew to do- he said a little prayer that if the boys were supposed to go, that they would receive their passports in time, AND, that there would be seats available on the chartered flight to Istanbul from New York. He had been told that he had booked the last seat on the flight and when he called to check on availability, he was again told that none were available. It was now within a week of his departure date. But 2 days later, he received a call from the airline- it seemed that 2 seats had come open at the last minute and did he want them? There was still the matter of the boys getting their passports, a procedure which usually took several weeks. But in 3 days, Danny's was back. And the next day, Ronny's arrived. "Yes", he wanted the seats. Next...